It Is Complex

Senator George Washington Plunkitt saw his opportunity at Tammany Hall and took it by placing his own interests ahead of the organization. The Ethics Resource Center report finds that six of every 10 local government employees say they witnessed misconduct at work during the past 12 months, with abusive behavior and placing one’s own interests ahead of the organization leading the way.
The question I grapple with is that some officials appear unable “to grasp fully the intricacies of complex ethical issues and to see all of the consequences of their actions.” They appear to suffer from ethical illiteracy. Typically, ethical illiteracy surfaces when issues are seen from a narrow and limited legal perspective. This leaves a large ethical blind spot that can produce tunnel vision.
There are some officials whose ethical illiteracy seems to be from a lack of any moral or ethical compass. An official who justifies their personal gain because there is some benefited member of the community lacks sound ethical judgment. The official who commits misconduct out of ignorance should be treated less harshly but is expected to reform themselves. Ignorance is not an excuse for misconduct, but it should be correctable. An official who receives one on one training with a very knowledgeable specialist and can walk out and continue to make the same ethical errors is probably moving towards willful intention.
The challenge in overcoming this obstacle is to think and act outside the box of what the law requires. Sound ethical judgment calls for more than meeting the moral minimum of the law.